The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods and components for preparing a building block for mortar-free construction. In some embodiments, building blocks are described that have unique finishes and features for home, office, factory or other construction based on a single or plurality of pre-made blocks that together provide walls with complete internal and external finishes.
One of the most basic necessities form mankind is housing. People need a place to live and a home is oftentimes the biggest investment that an individual or family will ever make. Home construction varies throughout the world, though the basic requirements of keeping the elements out and allowing for successful living within are true everywhere.
While homes may be made from a wide range of materials, building blocks generally based on cement are still widely used in defining rooms within structures as well as houses themselves. While drywall is popular today in construction, external walls and rooms that have much moisture—like bathrooms—generally require stronger walls based on stone or blocks. Blocks are made through traditional methods and are generally joined through mortar or similar binding materials. Building blocks are generally several pounds each in weight and have no functionality beyond defining boundaries of or within a structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,453 to Newsom describes a construction method for fabricating structures and a system of building blocks utilized in the method. The blocks are hollow and may be skeletal and formed from heavy gauge strips or molded. They include at least two sub-assemblies joined by interconnecting webs with provisions for single subassemblies to square off wall edges. Each skeletal subassembly includes upper and lower frames joined together by a plurality of structural columns perpendicular to the planes of the upper and lower frames. The upper and lower frames are dimensioned to form interfitting male and female receptacles that permit the blocks to be interconnected. D-lance snap fit structures are provided in the upper and lower frames so that an assembly of blocks with structural integrity may be created by snapping together courses of blocks with each course staggered relative to the adjacent course
U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,522 to Amaral teaches a system of construction blocks preferably from plastic having interlocking sides, tops, and bottoms which can be assembled with or without adhesive rather than mortar and which are strong, inexpensive, hollow, and lightweight.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,589 to Ciccarello describes a wall construction block for the construction of earth retaining walls includes a pair of spaced-part transverse pin receiving channels in the end walls of the block and disposed parallel to one another along respective longitudinal axis of the block which are parallel with a front lace of the block. The pin receiving channels extend transverse from a top surface to a bottom surface of the block and are of substantially uniform cross-section throughout. Arresting pin elements are received in sliding fit within some of the receiving channels and are retained captive therein. Elongated parallel grooves are provided on a top surface of the block and extend across the end walls and parallel to the front wall. One of the groove is aligned between a first set of the pin receiving channels and the other of the parallel grooves is offset a predetermined distance between the other set of pin receiving channels. When the blocks are disposed in rows one on top of one another, with the top wall of the block lacing upwards, the rows of blocks are arrested from transverse shifting by positioning arresting pin elements in selected ones of the sets of transverse pin receiving channels. The pins extend out of the bottom wall of the uppermost block and into a selected one of the pair of grooves in a top surface of the lower block.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/305,396, to Haener describes an interlocking block system consisting of a full block and a half block are installed mortar free with the internal cells filled with grout as required. The blocks must be laid in the upright position but may be rotated end to end as required for aesthetic reasons or to create an additional square internal cell. The blocks are supported by a tongue and groove engagement at the four external corners and four internal locking members that engage within the block on the course above. Knockout sections and relief areas are supplied for the installation of reinforcing bars. When the blocks are turned at a ninety degree angle to make a corner, the internal locking members engage in the square end cell of the block above equally as well as they do in a straight course of blocks.
Pat. No. 7,694,485 to Siener teaches a mortar-less interlocking building block for a building block system comprising a single light-weight block of the standard building block dimensions molded from plastic and configured to be separable into three-quarter, half and one-quarter sizes for accommodating prescribed to wall dimension lengths and openings, including a feature for building interconnecting right-angle walls.
The prior art generally describes blocks and methods for constructing structures using pre-made building blocks of various materials that do not include pre-made internal and external final finishes.